The center bearing on my driveshaft has come apart. Wondering who else has had this problem, and what you have to do to replace it. The bearing jumped out to the front of its rubber housing and bracket, and is letting the driveshaft wobble. Gave me a low vibration under acceleration only, and a terrible thumping when I floored it.

I'm guessing you pull the U joint apart that is right in front of the rear axle and slide the shaft out? Not sure how it will come apart, maybe you beat the bearing off the shaft once you have the driveshaft apart?

 

As far as removal of the driveshaft goes; Take off the two strap kits on the rear yoke U-joint (should be 5/16" I believe for the strap kit bolts). Remove the 4 bolts holding the Hanger Bearing, then slide the driveshaft out of the tranny (be careful while you remove the driveshaft so that you don't damage the end seal on the tranny).

As far as the Hanger Bearing goes, I can't remember if they are like a Ford Style or not....hopefully not! But I'm sure others will chime in about R&Ring Hanger Bearings on Dodge Drive Shafts. If not, I'll ask my one of the guys over in the driveline section of our shop and see what he says.

 

I looked in my repair manual when I got home today, it says you need a special bearing removal tool and a installation press. I'm thinking maybe I'll remove the driveshaft with the center bearing attached to it and take it to a shop for them to remove the old bearing and press the new one on. Sound like a plan? I'm hoping I can take off the driveshaft at the differential vs the end at the transfer case.

 

i always have used a hammer to get those bearings off and a hammer to put them on and never had one come apart on me

 

i just bought a whole new bearing and hanger assebly thing from cummins. and unbolted the drive shaft and pressed the old on off and the new one on, then bolted it all back together.

 

Well, I had a machine shop remove the old bearing and press the new one on. Installed the driveshaft, and noticed the new hanger bearing was installed about 1-1.5" farther forward than it should be. This leaves me with a gap between the oil seal on the tail shaft of the transfer case and the first U joint. Its leaking tranny fluid something awful, I blood trailed the truck from the shop to the house. I'll have to take it back in and see if they can move the bearing for me.

Is there anything I need to do about that oil seal? It is an external seal, on the end of the housing that comes out the back of the transfer case. The end of the driveshaft goes up into that housing and meets the splined shaft of the transfer case. It doesn't seem like it would ever make a very tight seal, but I never lost any tranny fluid before. I'm guessing it needs to be tight up against the U joint.

 

Check the drop bracket first, it should have an angled side, and a flat side. the flat side should be on the passenger side.
If not, you have the bracket on backwards.
The bracket that bolts to the frame can be put on either way, you need to unbolt the 4 bolts that hold it to the frame, drop it down on a jack or a stand, and unbolt the hanger bearing, turn the bracket 180 degrees, then bolt everything back up.

 

I marked the corner of the bracket with paint before I took it off, but I can see how it would be easy to put on wrong. I can see shiny metal on the driveshaft where the bearing should be, somehow the old bearing moved forward on the shaft and came out of its housing. When they put the new one on, they put it right where the old one was, not in its original location.


Do you think I could beat the bearing down to where it should be, or should I just take it back to the machine shop?

 

The bearing should be all the way to the end of the splined area, (as far as it can go) some of those can be real tight, so if you can wait to let them do it, that would be your safest bet.
If you need it now, you may be able to take a piece of 1and1/4 pipe and drive it on.
Be carefull not to ruin the bearing.

 

Finally got it figured out. Didn't really know what I was doing or what the parts were supposed to look like. The bearing was installed correctly the first time. The oil seal on the output shaft of the transfer case got damaged by the loose driveshaft, and was leaking badly. Replaced that, and good to go. Sorry for the confusion in the thread, had to figure all this out without any hands on help.

Tell you what though, I can have that driveshaft and hanger bearing off in about 90 seconds now.